All That Glitters Is Gold
by PolluxCastorr
Summary: Loki and Thor moved to The US from Norway. Thor was excited, Loki was not. Seven years later and Loki is content with being the unobtainable genius. Until Tony Stark moves in. Loki is no longer the only genius, his family is no longer the richest, and his brother will not shut up him about befriending Stark. FrostIron, Highschool AU, ALokithatactuallyactslikeLoki, maybe smut?
1. Chapter 1: Young Loki

"Do we really have to move again?" Loki's voice was small, still timid and unsure if his words were worth saying.

Frigga kneeled down to her youngest son, placing a fine fingered hand on his slight shoulder. "Now, Loki, we've told you a dozen times. Your father is a very important man. Many people want him to take this job. You don't want them to be angry at your father, do you?"

Young Loki is ten years old. Nine years seems like a long time to him, nine years is nearly his whole life. Nine years. Nine years. It's replaying in his mind like someone knocked against a radio and set it on an endless repeat of two words, over and over.

Nine years, they'll be living in The United States. It's a long ways away from Norway, he thinks, and nine years is almost forever. But he doesn't get a choice. It's fathers' choice.

"Children do not know what is best for them." His father said.

"Loki, I know it seems scary but think of all the people you'll meet there. All the friends you'll make. Cheer up, my darling. It will be wonderful, you'll see." His mother said.

He doesn't believe them. Thor does, but he's certainly not Thor.

Young Loki is now seventeen years old. He still doesn't believe his parents when they tell him things will be okay. But he is sure of his voice now; he knows his voice and words are worth hearing. He knows how to make people listen, and in some cases, how to control their thoughts. To a certain extent at least.

Loki sighed and scrolled through the endless amounts of rubbish on his mobile phone before his ears were greeted by the sweet symphony of the lunch bell. He stood, stretching his arms over his head, taking note of the two girls in the front of the class that stared at the small strip of flesh exposed between his shirt and jeans. He put his arms back down and cracked his neck, smiling at one of the girls on his way out. Janine, he believed she was called.

The halls were filled with his classmates, all shoulder to shoulder shuffling to wherever they were going. He stopped briefly in the cafeteria to buy an apple before making his way through the crowds to the lawn. He smiled slyly at a group of sophomore girls as they passed; satisfaction tugged the corner of his mouth higher at their sudden increase in nervous giggling.

He made it to his preferred spot in record time, hoping, no, praying to the gods that Thor was off with the rest of his meathead friends. You know, a quiet, peaceful lunch is not that much to ask for, really.

He bit into the ripe red flesh of the apple as he opened his advanced calculus text book. The truth being that this school didn't even offer advanced calculus, this was pure pleasure reading. And a pleasure it was, Loki was lost in his book for several minutes before he realized he was being called to.

"Loki!" His jaw clenched at the sound of his brother yelling his name from across the lawn. He swallowed his annoyance and turned around with a smile, giving his brother—and company—a curt wave.

Thor trotted over to the table, beating the rest of the group by a few yards. Sif and Fandral seemed to be engaged in a rather intense discussion. Volstagg was nowhere to be found, most likely scrounging up enough food to feed an army.

"Enjoying your lunch, brother?" Thor questioned lightly. His eyes fell to Loki's lap where his book rested.

"I am actually," Before he could finish his sentence Thors' attention was elsewhere. His book was lifted from his lap and looked at like a creature that, if one moved too fast, would bite.

"What an earth are you reading?" Thor took a seat on the table top, letting his long legs hang from the edge. The black haired boy reached out and quickly plucked the book from his brother's grasp. Closing the book and placing it on the table in front of him.

Fandral walked lazily up to them, leaning over Loki's shoulder to look at the book in front of him. "You are the only sane man on earth that reads textbooks for fun. Did you know that, Loki?"

Sif took her seat across from Loki a bottle of flavoured water in her hand. She was no doubt recharging her body for whatever sport was the flavour of the week. Last month she was pining to be a baseball star, the month before that she claimed she had found her true calling in basketball, it truly never ended with her.

"So, Loki, odd reading habits aside. Have you heard of the new student? They say he may even be more of a know-it-all than you." She tilted her drink towards him slightly. When he cocked an inky eyebrow at her, she continued in a voice that sounded a bit too pleased. "But don't worry, I defended you. Impossible! I said, to be more pretentiously informed on every subject under the sun than our dear Loki would be unmanageable!"

They all laughed, though Lokis' was more of a well-mannered chuckle than anything. He enjoyed Thors' friends on occasion but was loath to spend more than a few hours with them at a time. Aside from Sif they were all idiots, not that Sif was any genius, but she listened to Loki ramble about science and computers. He appreciated that. So he returned the favour by listening to her rant about sports.

Once Thors thunderous laughter ceased he looked at his brother. "But in all seriousness, brother, I believe you should befriend our new classmate. You have so few friends that you can speak to about your interests." His eyes were seemingly full of concern and well-meaning but all Loki could see was condescension.

"I have plenty of friends, Thor." He retorted a bit too quickly; making a point to relax his face lest he be glaring at the oaf unconsciously.

"No, you've a great many pleasant acquaintances but few friends." Fandral cut in sharply.

"Consider it, Loki." Sif agreed, just as Volstagg arrived with a mountain of food on his tray.

"It looks like you cleaned out the entire cafeteria." Fandral stated, sipping his soda and biting into an ill-prepared sandwich. "They should pay you for all of that garbage you get rid of for them, you know?"

The rest of the lunch passed without event. Loki had two classes with the new student at the end of the day. Stark was his name, and apparently he was filthy rich. Loki was caught staring at Stark twice by Sif who, in short, believed it to be "Love at first sight" foolish girl, she is.

He had his doubts, Stark may have been rich, smart, admittedly very handsome, and apparently a very smooth talker, but by the end of the day Loki decided he didn't want anything to do with the boy.

A/N: So this is my first fanfic. A little nervous about posting it here but hey, who knows, maybe you actually liked it. There isn't much to this first chapter but the next one will be longer, much, much, longer.


	2. Chapter 2: Stark

"Brother!" Thor shouted from the dining room. The harsh sound breaking Loki's concentration on the screen.

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew for a fact that he was about to be asked for help on some incredibly simple geometry problem and after five minutes of explanation he'd be met with a "Brother, I still do not understand." And he'd end up doing the entire assignment for the Oaf.

"Thor, please, I'm trying to watch television. Can it wait?" He called over his shoulder, his attention still half paying attention to the wonderful drone of the documentary voice-over.

"Do not mind, Brother. I'll text message the Stark boy for assistance." Thor responded a bit distracted sounding. Probably trying to type properly. Compared to his fingers the phones screen was miniscule and normally presented a bit of a challenge for him.

Loki didn't know why but that irked him. He looked up to the screen once more before shutting it off and pushing himself into a standing position. He could just download the show later if he really wanted to anyway, it wasn't much of a loss, he supposed.

Stark could showboat around school all he wanted, this was Loki's house and Loki's brother and Stark would not become Thors go-to man for geometry help. Well maybe that was a little dramatic.

Thor looked up as Loki approached; he smiled widely and slid a slightly crumpled paper over to Loki as he settled his lithe body into one of the polished wooden chairs, accidently kneeing the underside of the table in the process.

He rubbed the sore spot on his knee briefly before examining the paper before him. Again, a light sigh escaped his lips.

"Thor" his voice was unimpressed and exasperated at the same time. "All of these are wrong, and what is this you've written here?" He circled a particularly messy part of the paper with one fluid motion. "It's just gibberish."

Thor looked a bit crestfallen at his brother's blatant criticism. Loki knew he should have been gentler with him but he wasn't really in the mood to be kindly right now. Thor's bright blue eyes and gleaming smile fell a bit. Loki looked up just in time to catch his brother sighing and palming his forehead.

"Look, Thor, just watch me do it. I'll explain it to you as we go. But you need to learn to do this yourself or when the class moves onto more difficult topics you'll be completely lost."

Thor nodded sadly, grabbing another pencil as Loki had commandeered his when he sat down. For the next hour and a half they sat together as Loki tutored his older brother. Not counting the snack break Thor had insisted upon halfway through the assignment.

By the end of the night Thor seemed like—and claimed— he'd gotten the hang of it. There was lingering doubt but Loki disregarded it.

He left his brother with some excuse about having his own work to do and took the stairs two at a time.

He closed the door to his bedroom a bit too hard for someone who was content. It took him several moments of thinking to realise he wasn't content. And it was Starks fault. That stupid prick was upsetting the delicate balance of Loki's carefully constructed social life.

Loki decided it was wise to get to know his enemy, yes, an enemy, that's exactly what Stark was. After changing into his favourite pyjamas and combing through his messy hair. He spent awhile sprawled out on his bed with his laptop digging around for information on Anthony Stark and his father. There wasn't a mother around from what he'd heard, and apparently his father, Howard, was often away for work.

Two hours passed before Loki looked at the time and ran his fingers through his hair. He figured that was enough of Stark for one night. Now he wanted something a little more mentally stimulating.

He signed into his account on he messaged his friend Bruce. They'd never met in person before but Bruce was one of Loki's favourite people to speak with. He always seemed to be working on some new and usually dangerous experiment. It took a few minutes for the other boy to respond but as soon as he did they struck a conversation that lasted well into the night.

Loki talked until he got tired; he announced his exhaustion to Bruce who agreed that they should both go to sleep before the dawn

Loki wanted to sleep, but the shower, it beckoned.

The morning came much too abruptly for Loki. The sound of Thor stomping around was more effective at rousing him than his alarm had been. It's like the guy had 50 pound weights on his ankles at all times.

He dressed quickly before stepping into the harsh light of the bathroom. His inky hair was a mess; it contrasted his pale skin ridiculously. He squinted at his reflection in the mirror, the hardly noticeable circles under his eyes threatened to sully his porcelain complexion.

Loki, ever the perfectionist—especially when his appearance was concerned- made a mental note to drink only water today, eat only raw fruits and vegetables at school. He couldn't let those circles get any darker. He sighed as he finished taming his hair, it's hard being so attractive all the time. It's hard and nobody understands.

When he finished with his primadonna moment he hurried down the stairs to catch a ride with Thor. No use in taking two cars when you could share one. Not to mention that every time his car left the garage was a liability; it could be scratched, or dented. Not that fixing it would be a problem but he didn't relish the thought of Odin's face when he asked for the money to make the repairs.

Thor filled the silence by gossiping about a girl named Natasha and the Barton boy apparently getting drunk together and having sex at the party Tony Stark had thrown the weekend before. Loki listened politely as they drove, making note of important details should anyone bring it up to him later on in the day. He may not actually care but it was always better to look as if he did.

When they arrived their usual spot in front, a spot that Loki had chosen himself as the best spot on campus, was taken by a sleek car in hot-rod red.

"Stark." Loki growled under his breath. Of course he was parked in their spot. Of course it was him, did he just have some sort of instinctual need to do everything he could to antagonize Loki? OR maybe it brought him pleasure to see Loki so annoyed all the time. Either way Stark was beginning to forge a very testy, very resourceful, enemy out of Loki.

Thor looked at his younger brother. Instantly knowing the tone Loki used. "No worries brother, I can park somewhere else today. I will speak to Anthony and see if we can form an alternative arrangement for parking."

"Don't bother, Thor. I'll do it." He stepped out on the car and into the harsh morning light, frowning and shielding his eyes with one hand as he looked across the campus. When he didn't spot what he was looking for he slammed the car door with more force than was necessary and stalked off towards the main building.

The day passed slowly, Loki flirted with his project partner in first period and used his mobile to talk to Bruce in second.

Each time he passed Stark in the hall he gave the shorter boy a pointed glare. In fourth period he and Sif talked about Natasha and Clint. Apparently she had earned the nickname "Black Widow" because of her habit of, in Sif's words "Eating men alive."

Lunch came as a heavenly release. Loki bought a bottle of water from the cafeteria as well as an apple. His backpack had a few volumes of the "Man, Myth, and Magic" series in it to help him pass the time, but as he approached his table he was greeted by one of the most unpleasant sights in the universe.

Tony Stark making himself comfortable in_ his_ spot at _his_ table. Loki stalked over and slammed his things down on the table, very effectively gaining the attention of one self-centred prick.

"Go away." He growled through his teeth.

"Cool it off, Dark and Stormy; I have every bit as much a right to sit here as you do." He leaned on the table with his elbows, letting his overly-expensive sunglasses slide down his nose a bit.

Brown eyes met emerald, burning into each other. Loki grimaced and sat down as he saw his brother approaching from across the lawn. If Thor saw him arguing with this boy for just sitting in his place he would probably discuss it with mother, who would in turn discuss it with father. It would end up with Loki being reprimanded and told that false friendships are more useful than rivalries, and he wasn't in the mood for that.

Loki softened his face and took a bite out of his apple. Not bothering with Stark anymore he pulled out his book and began to read.

As Thor approached Tony lifted a hand and waved at him before reaching into a bag of dried fruit and popping a few pieces in his mouth.

"Anthony!" Thor clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder in greeting. "I am pleased to see you getting along!"

Tony smiled at Loki then looked up to Thor who was positively beaming "'Course we are, big guy! In fact Loki here just agreed to come to my next party. You're coming too, point break. And anyone else you want to bring."

Loki's eyes widened and narrowed at Stark, that conniving bastard using Thor against him like that. Loki felt his grip tighten on the hard edges of the book he was holding. His teeth clenched ever so slightly and a barely contained anger burned behind his eyes.

"Wonderful! Please text message me the details of this party, Anthony." Tony nodded and went back to eating and smirking at Loki.

Thor turned and shoved a massive hand in his pocket; he rummaged around for a few seconds before producing a folded piece of paper. "But the reason I came over was this," He shoved the paper in Loki's face, ignoring the bottle of water he almost tipped over. "A seventy-three percent mark on my geometry work! I wanted to show you how well your teachings worked. My instructor was highly impressed with my progress."

Loki couldn't help feeling a bit happy that his brother was so proud of himself. He smiled softly and patted Thor on the back. "Yes, well done, Thor. You should show Mother; maybe she'll hang it on the refrigerator."

Thor, ever-oblivious to sarcasm simply replied "She may." He took the paper back from Loki and put it back in his pocket before speaking again. "I'll leave you to each other's company; I'd like to talk to Jane before the end of the Lunch Period."

Loki watched his brothers retreating back for a moment. When he was sure Thor was out of earshot he turned to Stark.

"If you think I'm attending that party you're even more obtuse than I thought, Stark." He glared at the billionaire.

"Oh I don't think you will. I know so. You wouldn't risk messing up this little image you've got going with everyone." Tony leaned forward smirking like a Cheshire cat. "Plus, you might have some fun who knows."

A/N: Okay so yay! Chapter two. I know I promised it to be much, much longer but this one's only about double the last one. I just wanna say thank you guys so much for the reviews and follows and stuff! It really means a ton. Makes me wanna write more! Also if there are any side pairings you want me to touch on, leave them in the reviews! I'm happy to oblige.


End file.
